A Couple Old Dinasaurs

By the time we made it to the dinosaur museum, I could really relate to the piles of bones that surrounded us, except they were organized. Kirk and I were feeling really old and tired. We had reached a state of cranky chaos. The result of too much fun. Which for a 5, 3 and a 17 month old that is 3/4 th's of a day. The cute smiles you see above are deceiving. They were about the only ones we saw until they had all had a morning nap, the one they took going home. But, I had better go back to the beginning of this tale because you are probably confused at this point.

We had our family reunion this past weekend. Not very many could show up but then the clan that just started out as a few kids has mushroomed greatly making coordinating schedules almost impossible. The fewer numbers meant for a more intimate time. It rained the whole weekend and we were blessed to be able to use the church rec-room as we cooked meals and played games. My sister, the food expert who knows everything yummy that comes from a store, like dark chocolate covered blueberries, brought some clever inexpensive games. They all had a common theme of moving objects from one end of the table to the other in the most difficult manner possible. This one you suck on a straw and lift up what I think were skittles but M& M's might be lighter. I had to run back and forth from the kitchen to photograph and then dash back to do dishes, so my powers of observation weren't turned up too high. My sister's cooked, I figured the least I could do was the dishes. The entertainment for those watching was high as one game involved smearing protroleum jelly on your nose, pressing your gooey sniffer into the pile of cotton balls on the plate at one end of the table, and when one stuck, running to the other end where you could use your hands to place it on a paper plate. The fuzzy hand in the air has a Q-tip for reapplying Vaseline to the nose.Our oldest grand daughter's favorite game was the ping pong ball toss into the cups half full of water.

Then when we'd exhausted the games, it was off to the world's largest hot spring where you soon learn, if you don't know already, that swimming in warm warm water wears one out in a hurry especially old dinosaurs like us chasing children. For me it wasn't the heat but walking back and forth and back and forth from the kid's slide to the edge of the pool with grandchildren in my arms. There I lifted them up out of the water so I could yell, "Walk! don't run." fifty zillion times as they raced to the top of the water slide.

It was a revolving door as the kids refused to paddle around in the water having found an adrenaline rushing past time for which they repeated it at least a hundred times a piece. Think I'm exaggerating? The energizer bunny, the middle child, got to the point where she couldn't have gotten out of the pool if her life depended on it, and I had to lift all 47 pounds of her with no assistance, then steady her swaying frame before she could hold her balance to propel her exhausted body up the slope AGAIN to go down one more time like a bullet, shooting off the end of the slide at an alarming rate. So you can see why the following day the Museum, though spectacular, was just too much of a good thing. The biggest hit ended up being the rocking dinosaurs in the corner.
We tried to get the kids to pose by these dinosaurs since it seemed quite
appropriate at the moment. Alas, we couldn't even manage that.

When I spied this Tortoise, I could really relate. If there ever was a sculpture done of me at that moment, it would have looked like this.

Then I saw this ole gal a moment later and envied her. Who said dinosaurs weren't smart. They invented the first play pen to corral their youngsters.

It was our oldest grand daughter's favorite exhibit. She kept coming back to it. Before she got kicked out of the museum by her mom - for bad attitude problems. Of course that cut our tour short as no one was having fun by that time. But first let me give you a quick look see at what wonders await you if you come to visit Thermopolis, Wyoming,
like this rock packing dinasaurs. Okay, actually the rock was just positioned right to make a two-dimensional photo look like he was picking up the rock to hurdle at a predator.

Can you blame him when above looms a monster of this size? Because of wall constraints, I couldn't get back far enough to get the rest of its long neck and head into the photograph. Yes, diansaur experts, I think this one was from the plant eating family but don't spoil my imaginative fun.

As for names of these magnificent creatures.
I haven't a clue.

You see to bring you that, it would have required the cooperation of the munchkins and that wasn't happening. Or... I was just thinking, I could of taken along little boys, not girls, for though I know ALL about Disney's princesses, ( I've been force - I mean privileged to read all about them.), I can't remember what I ever learned about dinosaurs. I guess I'll just have to wait for grandsons. That would rid me of one torment with girls, "Whew hoo!, no Barbies with warped shaped bodies to squeeze clothes on to." I admit it, I once liked Barbies, then I became a Mom and I now think it was a conspiracy forcing Moms everywhere to spend there hard earned money buying replacement shoes and accessories since there sized to be lost or sucked up by the vacuum cleaner. (Sh...don't tell the girls I accidentally sucked one silvery slipper up this morning. You learn to use those kinds of words, you know silvery slipper, when your dealing with grand daughters who love princesses. I didn't mean to, I promise, it was a mistake. I thought it was a tiny piece of foil off a fruit snack wrapper.

I was tired, really tired being up all night making deposits from all the food my body isn't use to consuming. Anyway, I think not only is the inventor greedy but he's a dirty old man. Who else would have thought up a doll to emulate a women with a size 88 D cup set of hooters and a 22 size waisted. Now if any of you reading this blog love Barbies, I'm sorry if my opinion has wounded you. Please be consoled that I think you have the patience of Job for taking the time to dress Barbie time after time in clothes a hooker wouldn't even where because she couldn't get out of them in a timely fashion. Sorry, if I'm shocking you today. Remember, I've had very little sleep for a very long time and I was a really really big Tom Boy. But where were we? Oh yeah dinosaurs. Other than the gal who had her brood corralled, I liked Charlie here the best. A bit prickly for sure but once you get underneath those bony plates, I'm sure he has a heart of goal. No, I haven't been watching Beauty and the Beast today.